Infected Bucket = Sanitizer Bucket?

I have a bucket that is harboring some kind of infection. I know this because I had an infected batch and made another batch with all of the same equipment except for that bucket and it was fine.

Could I use this bucket to mix up sanitizer? It should kill anything that manages to get into solution right?

Prime said:

I have a bucket that is harboring some kind of infection. I know this because I had an infected batch and made another batch with all of the same equipment except for that bucket and it was fine.

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thats not exactly a fair test. clean and sanitize the bucket and use it again. if it turns out infected again then you know it was the bucket other wise it could of been anything.


and yes it would be just fine to use the suspect bucket as a sanitizer bucket.

Thanks for the quick reply.

I did make another batch in the bucket, but it also wasn't a fair test. It was a cider and had the same fruity smell (of course) as the infected beer. I am waiting to see if those are gushers after they carbonate.

I am really asking because I now have a couple 3 gallon better bottles which lets me do a full boil for 2.5 gal batches. I would rather do that right now than 5 gallon batches.

gushers wont gush if you cool them in the fridge for 24 hours or more.

just for the heck of it. what are your infection symptoms?

It's been a couple months but...

That batch had a very fruity smell. Also had a sour taste. I may have been able to describe it better back then. It was supposed to be a blonde ale. I tried giving it extra time, but it just seemed to get worse.

the fruity smell isn't because of an infection (i think). but the sour taste on the other hand is, and its not going to get better with time and it is going to get worse with time. thats how lambics, which you made accidentally, using real bacteria work.

i had a simular problem with a batch of Hefeweisen. traced the infection back to the stopper i was using for the airlock. it was slightly to big for the carboy and with the StarSan it kept pushing itself back out and falling on the floor. stupid me didn't think twice about picking it up off the garage floor and putting it back unsantized. had to dump the entire batch.

TipsyDragon said:

gushers wont gush if you cool them in the fridge for 24 hours or more.

just for the heck of it. what are your infection symptoms?

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Well, I've got a different type of gusher in my porter then, because mine have been in the keezer for two weeks and that didn't help at all!

How cold do I need to get these things?!?!?

So, far I've seen no problems with later batches using the same bucket fermenters. However, they were all kegged and this was the last one I bottled. So, I may just go ahead and replace the bottling bucket and spigot to be safe. I already replaced the tubing and have used the auto-siphon since without further trouble, crossing fingers!!